Read Online Fighting Destiny by Annalisa Simon - Free Book Online Page B

progress was interrupted by a f irm hand which pushed the door closed in front of her face. Jumping back in surprise, she collided with a solid wall of muscle and that impact released a wave of heat and the characteristic male scent of his body around them. She hadn’t even seen Darius move but suddenly she was trapped between the heat of his body and the solid frame of the oak door. Trembling violently she wasn’t sure if it was because she was angry or if it was because she could feel how the heat from Darius’ body was radiating into her and how good he smelled. The scent of frankincense was always one of his favourites and clearly this cologne he was wearing contained that heady aromatic.
    “Candasee, please wait!” he said softly against her hair and he grasped her shoulder with his other hand willing her to stop trembling. He had no idea that she would take his welcome gift so badly and he knew that if he had any hope of seeing her again he had to get her to calm down. “Please listen to me for a moment!” he asked softly. “Please!”
    Standing this close to Candasee was all Darius dreamed about for months and it took all of his restraint not to turn her around and kiss her until she forgot what her true mission was to his suite tonight. It was as if nothing had changed; in fact she was even more beautiful than he remembered.
    Slowly , Candasee sensed the burst of anger ebb out of her body like a receding tide and her body slumped against the door now totally tired and spent! What was happening? She wanted to stay angry, damn him. She felt as though she was literally on a roller coaster since early this afternoon. She turned around and her face ended up being pressed into the break at the top of his slightly unbuttoned shirt, where he always applied his cologne. Why couldn’t she even maintain a good angry moment at this man? Why was his just standing so close to her affecting her so powerfully still?
    She raised her eyes to meet his and found him watching her warily as though at any moment she might run away. That was exactly what she knew she should do, but for some reason she was rooted to the spot. She was also forgetting exactly why she came up here and attacked him in such a manner just now. Whatever happened to hoping they never ran into each other?
    Stepping backward slowly now that he was more confident that she wouldn’t go bolting down the hall, Darius let her have her space. Standing there watching her as she looked back at him, he pushed his hands deep into his pockets to control his impulse to just grab her by the shoulders and kiss her deeply. Yes, he heard every word she said and by the looks of things she was still very angry at him, but that did nothing to quell the desire within to hold her close to him. Just that moment of inhaling her hair and touching her arm had awakened something in him that he’d thought died a while ago.
    “Darius, I shouldn’t have come up here,” said Candasee finally turning again to leave, feeling her face prickling with embarrassment as she recalled how out of control she must have seemed just now. The security guard must also have thought that she was out of her mind!
    Darius ignored her last statement, hoping to engage her in even the shortest conversation before she left.
    “Wait, I’m so glad to see you Candasee, you have no idea! Please don’t go yet!” he said earnestly trying to stay rooted to the spot where he was standing. Now that he had her in this room he did not want to let her go at all and he was racking his brain for something to say that wouldn’t offend her. “Will you come and sit for a while? I just ordered dinner, would you like anything?” he asked.
    “No Darius, I am not hungry right now, I already ate at the airport. Didn’t you hear a word I said to you just now?” she asked regarding his calm demeanour incredulously.
    Darius paused before he responded to her. “Yes, I heard everything you said and I am sorry if I offended